


rendevouz with death

by cryystal_m00n



Series: mortem [2]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst, Confessions, Demons, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Moving On, Necromancy, References to Depression, Refrenced Animal Death, bri the necromancer is bacc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 09:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20374720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryystal_m00n/pseuds/cryystal_m00n
Summary: death means absolutely nothing to younghyun. it holds as much sense as love.





	rendevouz with death

**Author's Note:**

> this is basically a sequel to my the rose fic. you don't have to read it to be able to understand this, but if you do, you'll basically be able to see how woosung feels and how he sees the whole process of jhpian. the triggers in the tags are there for a reason. it's not as explicit as the jaesung fic, they're mostly refrenced for one line, but pls be careful   
the su*cide is refrenced when bri tells jae abt woosung and his past life, that's where its most refrenced i guess??? there is also a lot of mentions of blood, but it's never in depth  
with that being said, enjoy my dudes, dudettes and non-binary friends

death means absolutely  _ nothing _ to younghyun. it holds as much sense as love. he knows that his view of both these subjects are frowned upon by most, but he’s just so tired of what the world thinks, of the social template he has to fit himself into, to bend and break just to gather the shallow pieces into a shallower shape. 

life bores  _ and  _ tires him. which is why, for as long as he’s known himself, he turned to death. when you have the power to bring others back, the idea of dying doesn’t scare you anymore. you know you will be able to see them again soon, and for such a simple price too. a life, so insignificant to you, in exchange for your loved one. after all, osiris always asks for a price. 

in the end, he muses, it’s not the idea of dying that scares people, it’s the idea of losing someone who loves you that brings fear into human’s hearts. but when one finds their heart empty of such feelings, it’s when they know they can conquer the world. 

* * *

dowoon may be just his best assistant so far. he’s powerful enough to talk to spirits on his own, he can perform a small ritual even after not having slept for days, and he can make a great omelette. the only problem is that he has a demon boyfriend. well, the bastards are aiming for two, but neither dowoon nor wonpil seem to know just  _ how  _ to court sungjin. 

he may be working with the dead and undead, sometimes even making deals with demons, but he doesn’t appreciate having them in his house, cuddling his assistant. there is a line between being friendly enough with the devil that they won’t get killed and being friendly enough with him that they will know how he likes his eggs in the morning, and frankly, younghyun doesn’t appreciate that dowoon is crossing that line two times. 

he glares at wonpil when he notices him just chilling on his couch. he throws the new bones he found in the weeds right next to the demon, and asks, “don’t you have something better to do, like, i don’t know, working in your shop?”

wonpil rolls his eyes, hand reaching for the still dirty bone. he cleans it with his shirt, before examining it closely. “you’d know that i’m not working near the winter solstice, dear younghyun, if you paid attention to when i’m talking. did you prepare the yule log? after all, we don’t want the demons to come and hunt you now, do we?”

“what use is the yule log if you’re still going to be in my house, demon?”

“i’m simply here to protect my woonie and his mentor, even though he doesn’t like having my kind in close proximity.” wonpil stands up, his hand outstretched for the necromancer to shake. “what do you say? peace, in honor of the solstice?”

younghyun looks at the demon’s hand, at how humane and normal it looks. if he thinks about it, he’s never seen wonpil in his demon form; he doesn’t even know if he’s saying the truth about his nature. his mind must be clouded, still frozen from the cold outside, because his own stretches out and shakes wonpil’s. 

you must never make a deal with the devil unless you have something to win from it. and younghyun just did one out of pure idiocy. this will come to bite him in the ass later on, he’s sure of it. 

but for now, wonpil smiles back at the human, a devilishly handsome smile, and sits back down next to the bones. 

when he speaks, younghyun can sense that there is something  _ more  _ behind those words. “you won’t be disappointed, darling. trust me.” younghyun knows not to trust him. 

* * *

woosung hasn’t been the same since that, younghyun knows. he’s been more closed off, barely reaching to any of his friends, and the necromancer wants nothing more than to change that, to make the elder be as happy as he used to be. he can’t imagine what it’s like to lose the one you love the most, but he still tries to be there for woosung, even when the witch is far too drunk on sweet wine to even notice him. 

he watches him swirl the liquid in his glass, woosung’s cheeks flushed, as he plays with the necklace resting around his neck. they don’t talk, both too caught up in their own thoughts, until finally, the witch breaks the silence. 

“i had a guy come in two days ago,” he starts, “he wanted a soulmate reading. he took out  _ the moon _ and  _ the ace of cups _ .” younghyun frowns, not understanding the meaning the cards had for the man. he knows few of the meanings, and those only the stuff found in the guide book. “the exact same ones jaehyung--”

younghyun stops him, putting his hand on woosung’s. he knows how much it hurts the witch to bring up his dead lover. the deed is done, however, tears already falling down woosung’s face, ending up in his untouched glass of red wine. they shine in the dim light as they drop down. 

“do you think he’s happy… up there?”

“i don’t know, hyung. i can’t sense him… anywhere.” it’s not a lie, he’s tried to contact jaehyung and see how he is, in order to bring at least a small amount of comfort to the witch, to make him understand this hasn’t been his fault, but no matter how much he looked and searched, how many stones he turned and in how many caves he looked, how many other spirits he asked, there was no park jaehyung in the other life. so he kept on looking, hoping that somehow, he could find jaehyung’s lost soul. 

woosung’s tears don’t stop. on the contrary, they fall more rapidly, leaving new ones to stain his face. younghyun’s heart may be empty of a certain type of love, but it is, by no means, empty of the purest kind. it is in that moment when he decides he will do anything to bring a smile on woosung’s face again. 

* * *

the 22nd of december marks the beginning of lengthening days and shortening nights to the whole world. but to younghyun’s, it marks a day of fright and hoping, a day in which each magic users prays to whatever god they believe in that the yule log doesn’t burn out, that their house can be protected of witchcraft and demons until the last moon ray fades into sunshine. 

but to some, to very few witches or wizards, the winter solstice is the day they can finally get a  _ visit _ . this year, younghyun doesn’t look forward to that. he looks forward to being able to pass through the barrier and search for jaehyung himself, on the other side. 

“it’s a suicide mission!” dowoon yells when he hears the blond’s plan. he turns to wonpil for support, asking his boyfriend to back him up, but the demon simply shrugs. 

“then it’s a good thing i have you, woonie. you can bring my stupid ass back,” he pats the younger’s shoulder. he didn’t want to tell him, knowing very well that dowoon would worry about him, but he needs someone to pull him back in case of the worst truly happening. 

“woonie, would you be so kind to bring the red candles? and close the windows around the house? i’ll bring the sage,” wonpil says, surprising younghyun. he winks at the necromancer as his boyfriend leaves the room, still grumbling about how the elder man wants to die.

“are you trying to help me?” younghyun questions.

“wow! you  _ can  _ use your brain after all, huh?”

“what do you want in exchange, demon? i know your kind. you don’t do things out of the goodness of your heart.”

wonpil stays quiet for a moment, but then, he says, albeit voice not louder than a whisper, “help us court sungjin.” the demon sounds… almost shy. 

“you…” he can’t believe what he’s witnessing. “you want me to help you and dowoon court another demon?”

“look, he likes  _ food _ ,  _ we  _ don’t really know how to cook! you, on the other hand  _ do _ ! so will you help in exchange for your little plan to work, or would you rather  _ die _ on the other side?”

the necromancer weighs his options. teaching them how to cook-- making most of the food for them in order to catch the demon’s attention doesn’t sound so bad. and he knows that dowoon wouldn’t mind helping him, even though he had only mastered the art of omelettes. 

“alright. i’ll help you. but you  _ have  _ to bring me back  _ and  _ guide me to jaehyung.”

“ok. that’s easy, i already know where he’s hiding.” he throws his hands in the air in surrender when younghyun glares even harder at him. “he’s scared. and confused. that’s what happens to soul that put an end on their own life. the man upstairs is kinda really fucking mean to them. most get turned into demons after a while, an older one finds them wandering around and they bring the souls comfort. shitty, i know, but it’s best outcome for them.”

“so he’s alone?”

“as alone as you are, yeah.”

something breaks inside younghyun. thankfully, dowoon comes back, arms full of small red candles. he whines when he sees that the two didn’t make the preparations for the ritual, but are still standing in the same place where he left them. 

“pillie, you were supposed to bring the sage! you didn’t even move!” he forms a circle with the candles, big enough to fit younghyun. he takes a seat outside of it, pulling a bag full of white powder out of his pocket. he scatters the pulverized bones all around the circle. “it’s nearing three. can we just get started already?”

younghyun sighs, taking a sit inside the lighting candles. with each huff of wonpil’s breath, another one lights up, and soon enough, he is sitting inside a circle of fire. wonpil burns a stick of sage around all three of them, careful not to touch dowoon with the lit plant. 

the necromancer closes his eyes, his hands on his knees, and begins to recite the incantation: “ _ for the spirit to be willing, the flesh must first grow weak, just long enough for soul in flight, to pass from cheek to cheek. _ ”

his control over his body weakens until he can’t feel a thing. the world around him goes quiet, the air grows cold. he opens his eyes again, and everything around him is  _ white _ , so perfectly colorless that souls are bound to go insane. the spirit realm isn’t somewhere you’d want to find yourself. 

younghyun stands up from the ice cold ground, and heads north. he can hear wonpil’s voice in his head, telling him where to go. he must avoid the angry ghosts of the dead, unless he wants to spend the rest of his living days with them, screaming in agony at the pain one must suffer in here. 

gray silhouettes pass by him, not paying attention to the colorful ghost walking in their realm. he doesn’t speak, knowing that this will not attract their hateful gazes on him. wonpil tells him he’s closer, that jaehyung is just under the tree in front him, less than five meters away. he tells him to hurry, that if he stays more than four more minutes, he will remain there. 

he begins to run, whispered voices flying past him, he doesn’t care for the faceless looking at him. he reaches the tree in mere seconds, and kneels down in front of jaehyung. he looks the same as when he was alive, his body full of color, his face hiding pain and fear. 

“park jaehyung?” he seems confused at to how the man in front of him knows his name, but he still nods, action small. “come with me,” he says, holding his hand out for him to grab.

and jaehyung does, he holds onto the necromancer’s hand as if his life-- whatever’s left of it, depends on it. younghyun closes his eyes again, speaks the reverse spell with a booming voice, and then he can feel his body again, slowly, but surely. 

dowoon is yelling something, that’s the first thing he hears, then he feels a hand clasping his, a hand so cold it cannot be human. when he opens one eye, he sees jaehyung passed out, body opaque and  _ here _ next to him. 

exhaustion takes over, and he passes out as well, but at least he’s smiling.

* * *

he wakes up before jaehyung. it’s dowoon who tells him. he also tells him that they made it through the yule week safe, but that he missed the christmas day. that means he’s been sleeping for two days minimum. did going to the dead realm really drain him of power to such an extent?

jaehyung is sleeping in the guest room, looking… dead. for a moment younghyun wonders if he really managed to bring him back, but then, the man begins to move, whimpering in his sleep, his eyelids fluttering. he’s having a nightmare. 

younghyun knows it’s not good to wake up someone from a nightmare, especially one as intense as the one jaehyung seems to be having, so with his newly restored strength, he moves from the doorway and tells dowoon to leave him alone with him. reluctantly, the younger leaves, not after telling younghyun to yell or bang something if he needs help. 

he sits next to jaehyung on the bed, his hand finding its place on top of the man’s dark hair, petting the soft locks gently. it calms jaehyung down only for a moment, before he begins to trash around again, this time worse than before. 

he does the only thing he knows helped with his own nightmares. he begins to hum the exact same melody his brother sang for him. his voice isn’t as nice as jaebeom’s was, but it seems to do the trick, and sure enough, jaehyung settles down, falling back into a dreamless sleep. 

a sigh of relief leaves him. he spends the rest of the time jaehyung is asleep by his side, in case the nightmares return. they don’t, but he still can’t help but worry each time he moves a bit too hastily. 

in the end, jaehyung wakes up on the new year’s night, just before the clock hits midnight. his eyes shoot open, his breathing ragged. younghyun looks up from his book, only to meet his alarmed gaze. it shifts into something akin to relief. jaehyung’s voice is raspy as he whispers  _ brian _ , before launching himself into younhyun’s arms. 

* * *

jaehyung gets back on his feet a lot sooner than anyone would’ve expected. at first, he follows younghyun around like a lost puppy, and wonpil jokes that he’s like a chick following its mother. younghyun knows exactly _ why  _ jaehyung is trailing him. he’s the first familiar face he’s seen when he woke up after his slumber, it’s only bound to feel safe for him. 

he’s pretty sure he read about this, orphan babies adopting the adult in order to feel at ease. but, jaehyung  _ isn’t  _ orphan. sure, his whole family thinks he’s dead, but he has  _ woosung _ . woosung who is probably still in love with the elder, who would cry if he knew jaehyung is back. 

he can’t do this to his best friend. he can’t accept jaehyung’s love, no matter the true nature of it. which is why he lures  _ wonpil _ into entertaining the human when he’s at younghyun’s house. he pulls out the stupidest excuses out of his ass too, telling the older man that he has to bring back a dog for little jisungie from down the road, or that tzuyu’s hamster died and that she needs him. they are borderline pathetic, but jaehyung seems to believe them, putting his whole trust on the younger. 

he feels  _ so  _ bad, that he avoids woosung for almost a month. it’s not until that woosung calls him one night, mumbling things about how jaehyeong, the  _ soulmate _ , as the cards put him, keeps annoying him more and more every day. 

he leaves after he makes sure jaehyung is asleep, kissing the elder’s forehead to drive whatever nightmares may linger around the corner of his mind away. his powers don’t let him teleport, so he has to drive over to the witch’s shop, fast enough that he gets there quickly, yet careful enough that he doesn’t get a ticket. 

the  _ closed  _ sign is visible on the door, even no actual light on inside  _ or _ outside the shop. he knocks three times and waits. the door opens on its own, and when he steps inside, woosung is propped on the couch he has in the middle of the living space, hajoon-the-kitten sleeping on his lap. 

“i’m  _ so _ fed up with him, bri. who does he even think he is? his family is _ the _ lee family and he can’t even tell i have actual magic in me!” his voice goes deeper when he speaks again. “oh, look at me, my name is lee jaehyeong and i’m so pretty and smart but i’m actually an  _ idiot  _ who can’t recognize magic even when it’s right next to me, fall in love with my tall ass.” his hand accidentally pulls harshly on hajoon’s fur. ”i hate him.”

“i’m sure you do, woo,” he says, moving a few discarded jackets and pillow aside to stay next to him. he puts his arm around woosung, rubbing his shoulder. “do you hate him because he’s hot or do you hate him because he’s making you feel happy?”

woosung buries his face in younghyun’s shoulder and curses him loudly. and younghyun feels even worse about the possible feeling woosung’s dead (but alive) lover may harbor for him.

* * *

teaching the disastrous duo how to cook is a lot harder than he had expected. he didn’t think dowoon would be unable to make some simple pasta, yet the moment he smelled the  _ water  _ burning, he knew their chances with sungjin were probably equal to minus 27.

they’re at their fifth attempt of making dumplings when the doorbell rings. it’s jaehyung who answers, running to the hall with a bit too much excitement escaping him.  _ he’s like a puppy _ , younghyun thinks with a small smile playing on his lips. 

wonpil sighs and throws the wrapper on the table. “this is stupid. how do we even know if he likes dumplings. he could be vegan! no, he’s a fucking demon, we eat the flesh of virgins…”

the youngest man chuckles, “you only ate the meat of  _ one  _ virgin and that virgin was me, pil.” the demon blushes, pushing dowoon with his shoulder. 

after a moment, younghyun catches onto the true meaning of the words. “ew, what the  _ fuck _ ? why would you say that?” he picks up the soap bar he keeps on the sink, the one that is so effective it takes out the blood splatter from his white shirts. “get over here,” he threatens, “i’ll wash your mouth, kid.”

dowoon yelps and flees, hiding behind his demon boyfriend. younghyun still makes sure to throw a hand towel at him, and if it just so happens to hit wonpil in the head instead, well, that’s a bonus point. 

jaehyung comes back to the kitchen pretty soon, but he’s not alone. there is a man, the exact portrayal of tell, dark and handsome, without really the tall part. he’s shorter than both him and jaehyung, but he is taller than the kitchen nightmares duo. his fair is just shy above his eyebrows and younghyun gets momentarily lost in the darkness of his eyes. they seem like gates to hell, but despite that, there isn’t any abhorrence in them. they seem… happy, almost beaming. his face breaks into a smile when he notices dowoon and wonpil. 

dowoon and wonpil who seem to have gotten really quiet. abnormally quiet. he turns to them, ready to be met with the worst scenario only to find them both blushing and refusing to look at the man who just entered. this doesn’t make sense! this man can’t be a demon! he looks too normal and not...  _ evil _ . 

younghyun looks at the uninvited guest again and this time he can see it. his eyes are fully black for a split second. he  _ is  _ a demon. well, there goes their whole plan of cooking a seven course meal to attract sungjin. poor guy probably came to see why it smells like burnt water. 

sungjin, or the demon he assumes  _ is  _ sungjin, makes his way towards the two and with the way he’s eyeing them younghyun is certain this is his cue to leave. so he grabs jaehyung’s arm and promptly runs out of the kitchen, barricading both of them inside his bedroom. 

“he seemed nice,” jaehyung says, falling face down on younghyun’s bed.

“he’s a demon. you can’t say that about them,” he sighs. wonpil may act nice around him, but jaehyung doesn’t know what those things are actually capable of. 

the elder hums, turning on his side to look at the blond. “you bring back dead people though. doesn’t that make you kind of a demon?” younghyun blinks at him, confused. “i mean, i know you don’t take souls and stuff, but you  _ do _ kill beings, bri. i’ve seen you come back with blood on your clothes. i’ve heard you talk to dead.”

“and does that make me a demon, jae?”

“i don’t know…” he says after a short breath. “in the end, everyone has a good part and a bad part. some choose to focus on the bad, while some on the good. so really, we could all end up as demons.” he fixates his burning gaze on younghyun. “but to answer you, i don’t think you’re one. i don’t think you’re evil either.”

younghyun kneels next to the bed. “what do you think of me then?”

“that you split your soul in far too many pieces and that now this,” he points at his chest, “is empty.” jaehyung bites on his bottom lip nervously, as if he’s not sure about finishing his idea. he closes his eyes as he speaks, “and i think that here,” he places his hand on his own chest, “i have enough for you too.”

he holds back a chuckle. younghyun was sure that this moment would come, but  _ god _ is he not prepared for it. his face is a blank canvas, not wanting the brunet to read his true feelings. “look, you  _ don’t _ actually love me. you think you do because i was the first person you saw when you woke up. i brought you back and  _ somehow  _ your brain thought it fell for me. but you don’t. you’re not in love. deep down, your heart belongs to someone else and you’d know it if you’d just  _ look _ .”

younghyun can see the way the other’s heart breaks.  _ it’s for the better _ , he tells himself as he covers jaehyung with a blanket. “now go sleep, jae.”

silence falls over them, only jaehyung’s little sniffles being heard every now and then. 

* * *

the next morning, he makes sure that no one is around him before he calls woosung. he picks up after the fifth ring and younghyun wastes no time:

“i managed to bring him back.”

_ “but?” _ woosung asks.

“he doesn’t remember you and… i’ve been taking care of him for a while… last night he told me fell for me.” he feels so guilty just admitting it, but woosung speaks before he can tell him more.

_ “take care of jaehyung, bri. god knows i couldn’t.” _

“that’s not true, woosung. it’s not you--” woosung hangs up on him, leaving his words to fall out without being heard by anyone. how could he even tell the witch that he already hurt jaehyung., that he broke his heart in millions of pieces just because he thinks the past can be restored? 

kang younghyun is an idiot, and right now he wishes jaehyung was right about his heart and soul being empty. 

* * *

when he comes home one day, arms full of both groceries and new ingredients for his seances, he finds the apartment free of any sign of its unofficial residents. or at least, that’s what he thinks. the kitchen is empty, the living room and office are both vacant as well, and his bedroom still has the lock spell on, clearly untouched. only jaehyung’s room remains as a possible hiding place for two demons, one necromancer and one human. 

he passes by the door, not sure if he should check inside. they haven’t been talking much since  _ the incident _ and younghyun is quite certain the elder doesn’t want to see him. so he keeps going, heading for the bathroom. a thud from jaehyung’s room stops him in his tracks. there is a soft curse coming from behind the closed door, which makes younghyun turn around and push the door open. 

there is jaehyung, looking through a box full of… things.  _ his _ possessions from when he was alive. the exact box full of everything that meant something to both him and woosung. his glasses are perked on his nose and he’s wearing a hoodie that younghyun can’t seem to recognize. it must be from his college days, most likely a gift from woosung. 

there is a photo frame resting on the ground, the glass now broken. the actual picture is in jaehyung’s hands, and younghyun can see the confusion he’s feeling. 

“i’m guessing woosung came by?” he asks, picking up the shattered glass and putting in on the nightstand. 

“who was he? why… why does he have photos of me?”

younghyun sits down, and finally explains everything to him. “you died, that much you know. well, do you wonder  _ why  _ you can’t remember anything from your previous life?”

“that’s not true, i can remember you,” he pouts.

“you… you killed yourself last fall.” jaehyung drops the photo. “you were depressed, you attempted it times and times again, but somehow, i have  _ no  _ idea how, you kept it a secret. woosung,” he points to the smiling witch in the photo, “he was your boyfriend. you’ve been together since high school. he is a witch, which explains why he probably appeared out of nowhere when he brought the box here. he did a reading for you, maybe a month before you did it. you took out the death card yourself, and he blamed himself for it. i’m  _ not _ saying you should feel bad because you did it! i’m just letting you know what happened.”

“i was… in love with him?” younghyun nods. “then how come i don’t remember  _ him _ , but i remember  _ you _ , bri?”

“i don’t know, baby, but look,” he picks up one of the countless plushies in the box, “woosung won you this corgi when all of us went to the arcade. you were whining so much about how you wanted it and he spent the whole night trying to win it for you. these,” he points to the set of matching bracelets lying on the bed, “they were your six years anniversary gifts! you two were  _ soulmates _ , jae!”

“maybe i was his soulmate only in the other life i had,” jaehyung says. “i don’t feel anything for him now and i think he stopped loving me-- the old me as well. when he brought this box here, he said he’s giving his memories away, that he has no use for them anymore. brian, this means he wants to move on.” his hand finds younghyun’s, shyly intertwining their fingers. “i think that’s for the best. he deserves someone who will love him and it just seems i wasn’t made to love him forever and ever. we may have been destined for each other, but in the end, i… gave up on it.”

“that’s not true! it’s not your fault you--”

“you said i hid it, and kept everything a secret, right? maybe that was a sign. i didn’t want help, i may have thought i could do it alone. or maybe i just  _ wanted  _ to die.”

younghyun pulls on his hand to grab his attention. “look, i don’t know why you didn’t tell anyone, that was your business. but  _ don’t _ give me the i didn’t want to be saved thing. you’re back now and  _ i _ am here to save you every time you fall in too deep, ok? you still woosung and hajoon and matthew and jimin… though maybe we should tell everyone else you’re alive again… what i’m trying to say, jae, is that--”

the elder kiss him softly, barely a touch of their lips. “i love you. and i want you to be ok with it and to stop pushing me away. we’re both adults here, bri. we can figure this out.”

youghyun simply squeezes his hand, the  _ i love you too _ unspoken, but heard loudly by jaehyung.

* * *

if there is one thing jaehyung hates about him, it would have to be how there seems to be blood everywhere younghyun goes. no matter what he’s doing, or if he hasn’t brought something back to life in a few weeks, jaehyung always finds at least a few droplets of dried blood in his proximity. 

and, younghyun has come to know, he  _ despises  _ the sight of it. it’s almost like a trigger to him. 

which is why he finds himself at wonpil’s shop one faithful day, to look for some type of potion that could make every last bit of blood stain disappear. 

“you know i’m not a potion maker, right?” wonpil says when younghyun voices his wish. 

“you know that my couch is now covered in cum stains because of you,  _ right _ ?” he answers back, quirking his eyebrow just slightly. 

“oh would you just look at  _ that _ ? i have what you want!” he takes a small glass bottle filled with clear and glittery liquid out, sliding it across the counter to him. “don’t you dare tell woonie i couldn’t get the stains out no matter how much i tried,” he whispers, his eyes flashing black as a threat. 

“brush it off gently and wash it with some enzyme-based soap, demon. you can read blog posts on it online, not everything has to be resolved with magic, you know?” he smirks, taking the potion and turning to leave. “i’m not paying since you’ve been eating my food again,  _ pillie _ .”

“fuck you, younghyun!” wonpil yells.

“you wish!”

from that day on, jaehyung doesn’t seen a single drop of blood on him.

* * *

the thing about familiars is that they’re not that powerful. they are lower ranks demons who cling onto the magic that witches and wizards have. woosung’s familiar… that’s a different story. hajoon may as well just be satan himself with just how much power he has flowing inside of him. younghyun wouldn’t even be surprised. 

so when his whole body is  _ dragged  _ from the physical realm, only to appear in the woods, a sleepy jaehyung hanging onto his arm, he’s not phased to find woosung and hajoon looking at him, the latter’s expression akin to desperation. 

“you’ll bring him back,” hajoon says through his teeth, pointing at dojoon’s figure, “i don’t care what it takes.” he didn’t even notice the ghost. 

younghyun knows that there is no way he can deny what the demon asked of him. so he brings dojoon back, but he’s extra careful with the blood he spills. 

* * *

woosung wipes the blood from his face with a simple touch of his fingers, and it’s only then that jaehyung looks back at younghyun again. he hates that the elder had to see how the ritual goes, that he saw this part of younghyun that probably scares him. 

despite what he just saw, jaehyung still stays close to him, as if he doesn’t really care that younghyun killed an animal and painted his face with its blood. 

he’s falling in and out of sleep, trusting younghyun enough to carry him. by the time they reach woosung’s place, he’s sleeping soundly, his head resting on younghyun’s shoulder. it may just be the cutest thing he’s ever seen. 

“thank you for everything, bri,” woosung says, passing him two mugs full of tea. 

he puts them down on the table in front of him. younghyun’s arm sneaks around jaehyung’s waist, pulling him down so that his head rests on his lap. 

“it was my pleasure. you know how much i love the dead.” 

younghyun means it in more than one way. but only he and jaehyung can know that. and if there is a glint of understanding, of knowledge in woosung’s eyes, he pays it no mind. 

* * *

the walk home is quiet, only him and his thoughts, a few occasional snores coming from jaehyung. it gives him time to put everything in order, something he’s thankful for. he loves jaehyung, that much is obvious, and he doesn’t think he could live with the idea of not being with him. 

not in a thousand years did he think he would end up here, loving someone in the way he’s been oh so afraid of letting himself fall, splitting his soul one last time, to give jaehyung. the elder will take care of it, protect it and give it the love it seeks. it will grow, but everything will belong to jaehyung. younghyun is not sure if on his own he will be able to do it. the necromancer might just end up giving it away again.

he deposits jaehyung on his bed gently, getting in beside him and wrapping his arms around the brunet’s waist. he kisses the nape of his neck and whispers the three words. jaehyung just turns around in his sleep and hides his face in younghyun’s chest. 

* * *

death has yet to mean anything to younghyun; that will probably never change. he has the power to bring back his loved one in exchange for a small, trivial price. but now, life doesn’t bore  _ nor _ tire him. now, the empty spot in his soul is full of  _ love _ , of the love that he’s been running from. 

he can still conquer the world. the only difference now is that he has jaehyung by his side to help him. 

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/cryystal_moon)   
[curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/cryystal_moon)


End file.
